


and I'd give up forever to touch you

by adaptation



Category: VH - A Harry Potter Roleplay Site
Genre: Alumni, Angst, F/M, Forced Marriage, Shotgun Wedding, VH19 (2021-2022)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 12:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4479428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adaptation/pseuds/adaptation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the most part, the overwhelming need to vomit had passed, replaced by a dim bubbling of nausea in her stomach. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was truly pregnancy-related, or if it had more to do with the current state of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and I'd give up forever to touch you

If you’d asked her where she intended to be at 9pm on the day after her wedding, Andie Kennedy would have told you without hesitation that she fully expected to be languishing on some tropical beach, with daintily painted toenails, sipping a colourful drink and enjoying the company of her gorgeous husband. If someone had told her that, instead, she’d be hunched over a toilet on a hard tile floor with no lights on and a dull ache in her lower back, suffering from morning sickness that couldn’t tell time, she would have laughed. Yet, here she was.  
  
For the most part, the overwhelming need to vomit had passed, replaced by a dim bubbling of nausea in her stomach. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was truly pregnancy-related, or if it had more to do with the current state of her life.  
  
She’d always meant to marry for love. She’d always thought people who married because of an unplanned pregnancy were weak. When she got married, it would be because she wanted to, and she would plan every detail exactly the way she envisioned it, invite only who she wanted, and revel in the special day. Andie Kennedy – or she supposed it should be Miller now – hadn’t counted on being blackmailed into marrying a man who didn’t love her in a courthouse ceremony, nearly two months pregnant and wearing only nice jeans and a cashmere turtleneck.  
  
Pressure rose in her tear ducts, and she swallowed hard. She’d cried enough over this. Mostly out of frustration with Hayden and his damned propriety, but a little bit out of sadness over the life she couldn’t have. Godric knew she loved him, but he’d proposed because he didn’t want a child out of wedlock, and not because he wanted to spend his life with her. The flat-out rejection with which she responded should have been the end of it, but Hayden Miller was nothing if not stubborn and spoiled, and he was determined to get his way.  
  
She could see the path their marriage would take as clearly as if a Seer had divined it: things would start out all right, but she’d be sullen about the circumstances, and he’d eventually grow tired of her; he’d have affairs, and her heart would break; he’d fall in love with someone else and be shackled to her and their child, who would grow up in a mockery of a traditional family. Andie failed to see how this was any more beneficial for baby than being raised by unmarried, albeit happy, parents. But Hayden was clever, and knew exactly what buttons to push. He’d threatened to contest custody, and with his money and connections, he’d win. She’d never stood a chance once he played that card. They were as good as married the minute he threatened her.  
  
Now, her head was propped up in her hand, elbow on the toilet seat, and her eyelids drifted shut against the streams of moonlight that trickled in to pool on the floor. The last few days had been tiring, and she’d plowed through them on so little sleep that it was worrisome. Only now did the exhaustion catch up with her. Every breath she inhaled was shaky and uncertain, halfway between a gasp and a sob.  
  
She didn’t hear the door to the guest bedroom she’d claimed swing open, or Hayden’s voice as he spoke her name. It wasn’t until his arm curled around her shoulders that she even realized he was there. He was sitting on the floor next to her, and before she could say anything he drew her into his arms and held her against his chest. Her head found the curve where his neck met his shoulder, and where the smell of his hair was perfectly mixed with the faint scent of his cologne, creating a smell that was perfectly Hayden. She inhaled deeply, and the stuttering heartbeats in her chest quieted.  
  
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that. When she awoke in the morning, she was alone in her bed, and except for the faint rumbles in the blanket where he’d lain as he held her, there was no sign of Hayden.


End file.
